"The Court's decision rights a terrible injustice and its order ensures that veterans who were unjustly denied reimbursement for critical emergency treatment at non-VA facilities will finally be reimbursed," said Bart Stichman, Executive Director of the National Veterans Legal Services Program. "It is a hard-won victory for hundreds of thousands of veterans."

The U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims found that the rule, which was updated in January 2018, violated a 2010 federal law and ordered the agency to reimburse all the veterans who had their claims denied.

This was not the first time the department has been found in violation of the law. In 2015, the same court found the agency was wrong to deny coverage to veterans who had any part of their hospital bill covered by private insurance.

The VA updated the rule in 2018 to completely forbid the agency from reimbursing medical expenses for emergency services at non-VA facilities.